Ellsworth Statler Exhibit Debuts
BSC Development’s proposed Statler renovation project has placed renewed focus on one of Buffalo’s great buildings. You can learn more about the man behind the landmark through the "Ellsworth Milton Statler" exhibit now in place in the lobby of his namesake building. The exhibit was produced by UB School of Architecture student Peter McCarthy.
Each poster revolves around Statler’s impact on the City of Buffalo. He began with a restaurant in the Ellicott Square Building, so the first poster is on that place, next he did work during the Pan am Expo, so the second is as such, etc. He was an amazingly business smart individual and although the project began with a concentration on the Statler Building, it grew to summarize his life rather than the buildings. It is mostly architecture related, although there are other interesting facts mingled into the information.
Pete McCarthy has been interested in the Statler long before the building was purchased by Bashar-Issa and used to work in the building for the Park Lane catering operaton. According to McCarthy, “Ellsworth Statler is the 1920's Buffalo equivalent to Bashar, multiplied by 100.” Statler built the 19-story, 1,100 room hotel in 1923 as the flagship of his hotel chain. It quickly became the heart of downtown and the center of Buffalo’s business and social scene.
McCarthy researched, fabricated and designed the exhibit. Posters are ‘framed’ in the elevator doors. “The elevators seemed like a great opportunity to drive the design,” says McCarthy. “While scouting the building for a good place to site the exhibit, I realized that most people approach the elevators just to find that they are out of service. Since they are under repair, the door cavities were a perfect way to take advantage of some residual distraction. Seven Statler-related topics are contained in seven elevator doors. Perfect.”
The exhibit will be up as long as the elevators are not used or being worked on. Issa has contracted for restoration of the elevators, meaning the exhibit could be removed in just a few weeks.
Not mentioned in the article (but, shown quite well in the slide show) is the clever accent lighting solution… of what appear to be flashlights! Ingenious! low-cost, no wiring required… love it!
My Mom worked at the Statler when she was very young and, if I have the story correct, that's where she and my Dad met. I think I read a previous post asking for Statler stories and, since my Mom passed away this summer, I wonder if there's a "buy a brick" program or exhibit or something that might be a lovely way to commemorate her life? If anyone knows of such a thing, please post the contact info, here?
I'll also email this post to my Dad.
Nice effort but the wooden elements are distracting if the viewer's attention should actually be on the content in the posters.
great tune, who is it?
Allen H., the idea behind the wooden elements was to be able to place the posters in the space without using any kind of fasteners, etc., thus they are a frame within the frame of the elevator.. and they also provide uplighting in a very subtle way.